On Monday, January 17, millions of Americans will have a day off work to honor the annual Martin Luther King, Jr. federal holiday observance. Dr. King worked tirelessly to make civil rights in this country fair and available to all citizens.  He worked so hard that many Americans have pledged to make the holiday a “day on, not a day off.”  The holiday has transformed from a time to kick up your feet into a day of service with community service projects abound.

Keep Jackson Beautiful (the local affiliate of Keep America Beautiful) and the City of Jackson are teaming up for such a project in West Jackson.  The two organizations are requesting volunteers to help paint several concrete block buildings along the John R. Lynch Street corridor that need fresh coats (of paint) to last them longer than the winter. The painting project will take place on Saturday, January 15, 2011 from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m…which means that you can still enjoy your holiday while enjoying the feeling of investing your time through service in West Jackson.

Volunteers will meet at the corner of Aberdeen Street and John R. Lynch Street. One group that plans to participate is the newly-formed Jackson chapter of Ranada’s Reads & Reels–a group that watches a movie and reads a book monthly pertaining to a topic related to the uplift of the black community and discusses the content. (They’re on Twitter and Facebook)

If you or your organization is interested in assisting with this project, contact Marsha Hobson of Keep Jackson Beautiful ( email: keepjack@bellsouth.net, office: 601.366.4842, cell: 601.398.5219)

P.S. Keep America Beautiful is one of four charities selected by Lowe’s to receive a total of $1 million in funding. The proportion of that $1 million will be determined by online voting at http://lowes.com/give or http://facebook.com/lowes. Help KAB and you can help Keep Jackson Beautiful! Visit the links and vote!

Location of Service Project: